The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) began in the late 1960's because 155 wealthy
taxpayers had become savvy enough with loopholes that they managed to avoid
income taxes altogether. Very few Americans avoided taxes completely this way,
nonetheless, policy was enacted that now threatens 25 million Americans.

Rangel's plan boasts loudly about repealing the AMT, but under the Democrats'
pay-as-you-go rules, actual tax cuts are not allowed. Congress must replace
any tax revenue reduction with an increase somewhere else, and of course, there
are no rules preventing tax hikes. Thus, a new 4% surtax on incomes over $150,000
for singles and $200,000 for couples is proposed to "pay for" the estimated
lost revenue. This simultaneously raises $36 billion MORE than simply leaving
the AMT alone, and creates a huge new marriage penalty tax. It won't
be long before $150,000 is an average income, and middle class taxpayers will
again face the situation we see coming today from inflation and the AMT. Overall,
the Rangel tax plan is estimated to increase taxes by $3.5 trillion over the
next 10 years.

With the leadership in Congress calling for this massive tax hike, spending
levels promising to absorb all that and then some (thanks to our ambitiously
misguided foreign policy), as well as the Federal Reserve's again cheapening
the dollar, American taxpayers are wondering where their purchasing power went.
We are working harder than ever before, as our standard of living falls.

The founding fathers never saw taxation as a method to direct social behavior
or enforce equality. Equality to them was equality under the law, not equality
of outcome, or income. It was not the founding fathers' job to manage the economy,
or make American businesses competitive. That was up to the free market and
American businesses. The founders sought to provide only protection of property
and civil liberties such that job creation could happen naturally and peacefully
in a stable, prosperous environment. They never sought to take from the rich
to give to the poor, or rob Peter to pay Paul. But today, the top 5% of earners
in this country pay over half of all income taxes collected, but only bring
in a third of the income. One third of Americans pay nothing or receive subsidies
from government.

Tax policy should not be based on the premise that government owns you and
allows you to keep some arbitrary amount of your labor. Thus, the AMT should
be repealed. The estate tax should be repealed. Capital gains taxes should
be repealed. The income tax should be repealed. We don't need to overhaul or
adjust tax policy, we need to scrap the whole thing and start over.

But this message is not getting through to the leadership of Congress. Congress
has ensnared itself in rules so that the only changes in tax policy allowed
are increases, while the administration is obsessed with spending, especially
spending us into oblivion by spreading this dead-end war when we should be
coming home.

If Washington can only do wrong, then let's hope for gridlock, until
a more sensible Congress is in office. Sometimes a do-nothing Congress is a
lot better than the alternative.

Congressman Ron Paul of Texas enjoys a national reputation as the premier
advocate for liberty in politics today. Dr. Paul is the leading spokesman
in Washington for limited constitutional government, low taxes, free markets,
and a return to sound monetary policies based on commodity-backed currency.
He is known among both his colleagues in Congress and his constituents for
his consistent voting record in the House of Representatives: Dr. Paul never
votes for legislation unless the proposed measure is expressly authorized
by the Constitution. In the words of former Treasury Secretary William Simon,
Dr. Paul is the "one exception to the Gang of 535" on Capitol Hill.